sqe will be a lot tough as UK and NON-UK candidates will be adjudged on the same parameters. UK firms will not hire you under the usual circumstances unless India lifts the ban on foreign lawyers and allows them to operate here, then it makes sense for them to bring you to UK for a couple of years train and qualify you and send you back to do their bidding.
Harder. You will in fact have to UK law again. Remember their Legilstaions, case laws, judgments, and what not. Not so simple to condense what you have studied in 5 years into 2 years of learning.
similarities are there, but culturally its very different. You will with some work surely clear the examinations and qualify but that does not mean you will get a job in a UK law firm. Reasons are two fold, there is no requirement for Indian lawyers, and there is no dearth of Indian origin lawyers in the UK who are can conversationally speak Indian languages. Additionally, most of their Indian clients can converse in English, hence, they do not always require an associate who can help overcome that language barrier, like they have to with their French or South American clients. Its always better to do an LL.B. from UK if you want to be hired there, as you would be a direct product of their system. They don't care much for LL.Ms or dual qualified lawyers and have made even SA level people from India undergo their 2 year TC programs. Their Indian/ Pakistani hiring is mostly done to satisfy their diversity purposes, and most are shown the door after a few years, or leave on their own due to lack of growth opportunities/ worst weather in the world (Also, London is unnecessarily expensive and overrated). The few Indians that do hire, without a UK LLB/US JD or industry level connections are from the usual top NLUs, which may have also slowed down in the recent years, although I might be incorrect on this. Secondly, not every city firm has enough Indian work and a budget to sponsor native Indian lawyers and pay for their visa etc. I believe it runs into 1000s of pounds (double digit) and you'd have to pay that amount every time you apply for visa renewal or annually, as the case maybe, am not sure. Plus, you minimum need to have an annual income of 25-35,000 pounds to be able to be eligible for a tier 2 visa.
Hiring has slowed down tremendously in the previous few years. I interned under a partner who had graduated from NLS around 2005 and he told me back in his day more than 10 people from every batch at NLS alone would get selected for vacation schemes. These days, foreign firms don't offer vacation schemes to even 10 people in total from all NLUs combined.
I don't think (and happy to be corrected) that the SQE diverts in any manner from the existing QLTS process, in so far as it applies to qualified lawyers from other jurisdictions. You have two sets of exams (SQE 1 and 2), which are on the same pattern as the QLTS (MCT and OSCE). There is no training requirement that an Indian lawyer has to go through. Take both sets of exams, clear them and then apply to the SRA for admission as a solicitor.
@2: Makes no sense - the process has always been harder for overseas lawyers under the QLTS process. Domestic lawyers have to do their LPC and training contract. LPC exams are difficult but not as expansive or stressful as the QLTS. Overseas lawyers have to do the QLTS process (even if they're trainees at a UK firm). The SQE is actually making it harder for domestic UK students, because they now have to go through the same process.
@3: That was the case under the QLTS regime as well. Don't know how that makes it tougher.
@1: This does not impact employability at all. This is just a change in the examination system for qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales.
Your skill set and its transferability, your academic credentials and Indian work experience will matter. Your interviews will matter. Most importantly, UK firms have major regulatory headaches with respect to hiring candidates from outside the UK, including sponsoring your visa. That is the primary reason for the limited Indian pool at firms there. Only the big US firms and Magic Circle firms are willing to sponsor candidates.
SQE doesnt change much for overseas lawyers, in fact I would say it makes it a bit easier, first anyone who wants to become a solicitor in the UK irrespective of whether they are home or overseas will have to pass SQE, so the level of questions will be a tad easier than QLTS. There are some good coaching places for SQE which should be sufficient for passing the exam. Second, it is marginally cheaper and better structured than QLTS. The real problem as highlighted by some of the commentators above is what do you do after you have completed SQE.
Not so simple to condense what you have studied in 5 years into 2 years of learning.
Their Indian/ Pakistani hiring is mostly done to satisfy their diversity purposes, and most are shown the door after a few years, or leave on their own due to lack of growth opportunities/ worst weather in the world (Also, London is unnecessarily expensive and overrated).
The few Indians that do hire, without a UK LLB/US JD or industry level connections are from the usual top NLUs, which may have also slowed down in the recent years, although I might be incorrect on this.
Secondly, not every city firm has enough Indian work and a budget to sponsor native Indian lawyers and pay for their visa etc. I believe it runs into 1000s of pounds (double digit) and you'd have to pay that amount every time you apply for visa renewal or annually, as the case maybe, am not sure. Plus, you minimum need to have an annual income of 25-35,000 pounds to be able to be eligible for a tier 2 visa.
More information here - overseas qualified lawyers are exempt from the training requirements and only have to pass the exams: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/qualified-lawyers/qualified-lawyers/
@2: Makes no sense - the process has always been harder for overseas lawyers under the QLTS process. Domestic lawyers have to do their LPC and training contract. LPC exams are difficult but not as expansive or stressful as the QLTS. Overseas lawyers have to do the QLTS process (even if they're trainees at a UK firm). The SQE is actually making it harder for domestic UK students, because they now have to go through the same process.
@3: That was the case under the QLTS regime as well. Don't know how that makes it tougher.
@1: This does not impact employability at all. This is just a change in the examination system for qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales.
Your skill set and its transferability, your academic credentials and Indian work experience will matter. Your interviews will matter. Most importantly, UK firms have major regulatory headaches with respect to hiring candidates from outside the UK, including sponsoring your visa. That is the primary reason for the limited Indian pool at firms there. Only the big US firms and Magic Circle firms are willing to sponsor candidates.
The real problem as highlighted by some of the commentators above is what do you do after you have completed SQE.